Hillary cries, Bev whines -- how the modern female runs for office

Let me you what ticks me off about Bev Perdue.

Oh, I'm sorry, my lunch break is only an hour long. I'll have to limit myself to one topic.

During the primaries, Perdue started an all out war against Richard Moore. That's right -- SHE started it. I watch the local news every morning while getting ready for work, and although I'm usually too tired to speak for at least 3 hours, seeing that first Perdue attack ad made me whistle in disbelief. It was harsh, and I remember wondering why a Democrat would do that to another Democrat during an election year.

Richard Moore came back with an ad defending himself, and pointing out Bev's inadequacies. This back and forth went on for some time (not being a registered Democrat, I didn't really have a dog in the fight, so I can't tell you exact figures), and Perdue and Moore remained fairly equal in local polls.

Then Bev announced that she was done with the bickering. She wanted to run a "positive campaign". She made it look like Moore had forced her to defend herself, which is the only reason she was running the ads, even thought she started it all. And almost overnight, her numbers skyrocketed. I was shocked and appalled that North Carolinians could be so naive.

A week prior to the primaries, an extremely conservative friend expressed disappointment at the fact that he could not vote in the Democratic primaries so he could vote AGAINST Moore. When I asked why on earth he would want to do such a thing, especially since Moore is a moderate Democrat (and Perdue is a socialist), he informed me that Moore attacked Perdue, and "a gentleman does not do that". I asked if he was aware that Perdue had started the fight, and he told me that he was not aware, but it did not matter to him.

So, basically, North Carolinians voted for Bev Perdue because Richard Moore treated her like a opponent rather than a housewife. You know, as a woman, I don't think I'd like to win on those grounds. I would rather be seen as an equal.

Not Perdue, and she's already playing the poor pitiful woman against Pat McCrory. As you all know, the Alliance for North Carolina has been running an attack ad against Pat McCrory for the past couple weeks. While Perdue is claiming she has nothing to do with them, she has also failed to insure a "positive" race by asking that the Alliance for NC have the ads removed. So this week, the McCrory campaign released an ad defending himself from the current attack ads, and also pointing out that Perdue is against offshore drilling in North Carolina, while he expects it to happpen "under [his] watch" as governor.

The same day the McCrory ad was released, Perdue sent an email out to her supporters with the subject line "McCrory Launches Desperate Negative Ads". The email began:

McCrory’s First Ad: Negative and Untrue

Pat McCrory launched a desperate negative attack today in his first TV commercial of the general election – an ad that is simply untrue.

The email then went on to tell us how much Bev Perdue WANTS to allow offshore drilling! Really, Bev? That is so interesting. Then why is it that on June 18, 2008, you told WRAL that you were "100% opposed" to offshore drilling? And then, on July 19th, you told the Charlotte Observer: "On my watch, we'll never solve the gas problem by drilling off the coast of North Carolina."

NOW, according to her email, Bev has "consistently said she supports offshore drilling."

Ignoring her major flipflop on the issue, isn't it interesting how McCrory is being "desperate" and "negative"? She knows what she's doing. She knows that the old Southern gentlemen who are likely to vote Republican this year would not approve of a male candidate "attacking" his opponent when she just so happens to belong to the weaker sex.

"Oh please help me, ya'll, this mean man is pointing out my inconsistencies. I just can't be expected to be held accountable for what I say!"

Please.

Bev, if you want to see a "negative", "desperate", and "untrue" "attack ad", check out the one that's being run by the Alliance for North Carolina -- an ad that you'll never ask to have removed because it does your dirty work for you. You'll never run a "positive campaign" until you start to take some responsibility.

Alliance for NC's spokesman has shady past

News broke today that Scott Falmlen, spokesman for the Alliance for North Carolina and previous Executive Director of the Florida Democrat Party and North Carolina Democrat Party has a history of being less than truthful when it comes to getting his message across.

You remember the Alliance for North Carolina -- you know, the political group that's running that ridiculous attack ad against Pat McCrory? It seems that while they and their tactics may not be well known in NC, their spokesman is getting a bit of a reputation for engaging in dirty politics.

Apparently, Scott Falmlen got himself into a little mess back in 1994 while desperately trying to get Democrat Lawton Chiles re-elected as governor of Florida. The campaign has been accused of phoning elderly citizens and scaring them into believing that Jeb Bush (the Republican nominee) was going to get rid of Medicare and Social Security.

According to The Ledger, a Florida newspaper, Falmlen "admitted making 'purposeful misstatements.'" (Dec. 9, 1995) And the vice chair of the state party at the time, Jon Ausman, was quoted as saying "Scott Falmlen should resign. He should have resigned a long time ago. He's no longer a credible spokesman for our party."

So basically, what we have here is a guy that got run out of Florida for engaging in shady politics, and has come up here to do some more of the same. The game's changed -- he's gone from sending misleading phone calls to running misleading advertisements against Pat McCrory -- but it's still the same old crap.

This is why so many people are fed up with politics in general. When people like Scott Falmlen get involved in a race, it's nothing but dirty campaigning all the way. I'm so glad Pat McCrory hasn't stooped to their level. I think it will be refreshing to a lot of North Carolinians to see a politician that doesn't feel the need to fire back with untruthful comments about his opponent.

Bev Perdue would be wise to tell the group to back off. I know she's claiming innocence with the whole thing, but it she really wanted to stay "Positive Bev", she would call for the removal of the attack ads. Plain and simple, she doesn't WANT the ad removed. She's sworn herself to positivity, so she has to get someone to do her dirty work for her. And Scott Falmlen has just the right kind of experience for Bev Perdue.

McCrory requests face-to-face discussion with Perdue regarding negative advertising

The following is a letter sent from Mayor Pat McCrory to Lt. Governor Bev Perdue earlier today:

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Dear Lt. Gov. Perdue:

Unfortunately, the Democratic Party and labor unions have decided to start an advertising war with negative attack television advertising. You and I know we can do better for the voters. Although your campaign team rejected my former offer of a series of live statewide television debates on the issues, I hope you will consider a proposal to address negative advertising.

When negative advertising appears, we can clarify the issues by meeting face-to-face in an open, televised forum to discuss the charges and their truthfulness or pertinence. I would suggest we meet within the next week in an open, televised forum to discuss your party’s charges that: 1.) I oppose the minimum wage, 2.) I favor pay increases for politicians and myself, and 3.) I oppose free community college tuition for all high school graduates.

It would be appropriate to hold our discussion on a community college campus such as Wake Tech. The format could be simple: 1.) We provide an equal amount of time to discuss the issues raised in the ad, 2.) we question each other for an agreed time on the issues, and 3.) we make closing comments. The moderator would ensure we both have equal time. I would suggest the community college president as the moderator of the first forum.

Negative advertising has become pervasive and you have expressed a personal opposition to negative campaigning. Perhaps, together, we can change the tone of campaigns by creating a situation where candidates are forced to defend negative advertising face-to-face. Our example can change the tone of this campaign and maybe future campaigns. It is worth a try.

My schedule is very full as I am sure is yours. But I will clear any day this week for our first attempt to end negative campaigns by directly addressing the issues.

Please feel free to contact me at my campaign office (704) 714-4344.

Sincerely,

Pat McCrory

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I'll be interested in seeing how she responds to that. Not that I'm holding my breath for anything. It was like pulling teeth to get that woman to agree to any debates during this election season -- I seriously doubt she's going to want to publicly discuss an ad to which she is voraciously attempting to remove herself.

Well here's a big shocker

Charlotte, N.C. – The McCrory for Governor Campaign today condemned The Alliance for North Carolina, a mysterious Washington-based 527 group that supports Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue’s campaign for governor, for breaking North Carolina election law.

“North Carolina law mandates that third party political organizations that run ads must file a detailed report with the State Board of Elections within 24 hours of airing an ad. Yet this secret 527 group has launched over $300,000 worth of negative television ads without disclosing any information whatsoever,” said Amy Auth, communications director for McCrory. “This is the latest example of the culture of corruption and secrecy that Raleigh politicians like the lieutenant governor are a part of. Pat is running for governor to change that culture.”

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She couldn't have said it any better. The Perdue camp can deny it all they like, but they had a hand in that McCrory attack ad. And now, they're breaking the law in regards to running those ads. BIG SURPRISE THERE.

Perdue supporters run false attack ads against McCrory

Watch the video, and then read the facts:



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Hilarious, right?

Pat McCrory actually did not say that he opposed raising the minimum wage (much to my chagrin, as someone who personally opposes any kind of a government-mandated minimum wage). In fact, when asked by an anti-minimum wage group for his stance, McCrory stated that he WOULD consider raising the minimum wage, and added, "Any one-time minimum wage increase should be coupled with a tax cut to small business to help offset additional costs. I would also back an alternative such as adjusting minimum wage to the cost of living."

What? A minimum wage increase AND tax cuts? Somewhere, a Democrat's head just exploded.

And how about that part where McCrory "supports pay raises for politicians, including himself"? I'm actually dying to know where that comes from. The ad cites a Charlotte Observer article from 6/10/08, but the article says no such thing. All it actually addresses is that Republicans in the city council voted against a pay raise, while Democrats voted for it. It also lists how each member voted -- but does NOT include a vote from Mayor McCrory. Hmmmm...

The last part of the video (about McCrory opposing free community college tuition for high school graduates) is the only true part of this smear ad. Since the primaries, McCrory has opposed this socialist measure, always arguing that "The teachers aren't going to work for free. The buildings aren't free. The textbooks aren't free." That's just plain common sense. It's the taxpayers that pay for it all, and as North Carolinians, we're already some of the highest taxed citizens in the US.

In a nice twist of irony, however, Perdue has never voted to decrease the tuition in community colleges; rather, she has never failed to INCREASE the tuition.

The attack ad closes by urging viewers to call the mayor's office of the City of Charlotte. By attempting to flood the office with needless phone calls, this ad attempts to waste more of the taxpayer's money (which really only proves to us that this is backed by the Democratic Party, since they're so good at spending taxpayer money).

Now, you want to know what REALLY irks me about this ad?

Of course it only stands to reason that an anti-McCrory ad would be backed by Perdue or a Perdue supporter. But Perdue spokesman Tim Crowley has denied having anything to do with the ad.

The group that's running the advertisement is called Alliance for North Carolina, and according to the group's website, "Its purpose is to communicate independently with the citizens of North Carolina on vital public issues, including but not limited to education, economic development, health care, public safety and better government." Nicely generic, yes? Not quite. The group is receiving funds from the Democratic Governor's Association, an organization whose main objective is to help elect Democratic governors across the US.

What does that ultimately mean? That sweetheart Bev can play innocent all she wants, but these are her people that are running this ad. But I know it'll be a cold day in hell when she calls for the removal of this attack ad (and the many others that will follow), because this makes it so much easier for her to pretend to run a "positive" campaign while still falsely smearing McCrory.

Too bad Bev's not any better at debating, or she wouldn't need to rely on such sleazy methods to insure a victory in November. I would hope that the North Carolina voters are too smart to fall for her shenanigans, but they sure fell for her BS in the race against Richard Moore.